


I'm Here for the Boos

by RadiantSeraphina (Lady_Arrowwood)



Category: Kirby (Video Games), Kirby - All Media Types, Kirby: Canvas Curse
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, Corn Mazes, F/F, Haunted Houses, M/M, Mostly (if not all) Gijinka, Scary Movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-27 00:52:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12570012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Arrowwood/pseuds/RadiantSeraphina
Summary: Various pairings based on requests from @userderekhale's Halloween Prompt list over on Tumblr. It's a bunch of nerds doing things.





	1. It's a Killer Movie (Metadede)

**Author's Note:**

> Anon requested: "person a and person b are watching a horror movie, but person a is terrified of horror movies" prompt with meta and dedede ? ; v
> 
> **This particular one is set pre-Dreamland University because that made the most sense (well, comparatively...); it's probably set during the first fall that Dedede and Meta Knight lived together.
> 
> ***This particular film is A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, which is sort of famous for being very homoerotic; the Cinema Snob does a great review on it if anyone is interested.

Meta Knight stared, face blank, as Freddy Krueger attempting to murder three schoolchildren on a bus, which was hanging dangerously in the midst of a cavern, resulted in a fake-out. “So it was a dream?” Meta Knight asked.

 

“Yeah! That’s Freddy’s thing. He haunts your dreams,” Dedede said. 

 

“My father is scarier,” Meta Knight said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

 

“Don’t ruin my fun! You cain’t declare yourself a college student until you’ve stayed up until two in the morning watching scary movies,” Dedede said. "You gotta do this properly, Meta."

 

“I believe you’re supposed to watch them with people you’re romantically interested in, aren’t you?” Meta Knight inquired, pretending to eye Dedede’s arm spread over the sofa with an excess amount of suspicion. "So when your date is scared, you can pull them close and engage in the same making out that would probably get you killed in one of these films?"

 

“Oh,  _hold me_ , Meta Knight!” Dedede declared, pretending to faint dramatically across Meta Knight’s lap. 

 

Meta Knight rolled his eyes and nudged Dedede off. Dedede launched into a fit of cackling laughter and rubbed his cheek against Meta Knight’s shoulder. “You’re distracting me,” Meta Knight muttered. “I’m trying to watch.”

 

Except that Meta Knight, himself, kept getting distracted by his own wayward thoughts. Because while Freddy pulling back his scalp and revealing his brain was probably  _supposed_ to be terrifying, Meta Knight kept thinking of his father trying to do it, and that was actually sort of hilarious. Meta Knight smothered his chuckles and pretended not to notice Dedede looking at him like he was some sort of aspiring serial killer. “I don’t think I’m really the intended audience,” Meta Knight offered.

 

“Uh-huh,” Dedede said. “Yeah.”

 

“Oh, no, I was so invested in his character,” Meta Knight deadpanned, as the coach in the film was tied up and murdered in the shower. 

 

“I ain’t gonna be able to shower for a week,” Dedede muttered.

 

Meta Knight eyed him quizzically. “You aren’t serious.”

 

Dedede frowned. “Okay, so maybe I, um, have dabbled a bit in...”

 

“Murdering people in showers?” Meta Knight asked, smirking.

 

Dedede shot him a death glare, which did little to deter Meta Knight's amusement.

 

“Regardless of what activities you’re engaging in whilst in our shower, I sincerely doubt they’re going to end in murder,” Meta Knight said. “Honestly, the scariest part of this film is that the protagonist keeps putting on the same set of clothes. The smell must be atrocious.”

 

Dedede sighed.

 

“Never mind,” Meta Knight said after a few scenes. “That Grady character talking with his mouth open is the scariest part.”

 

The sofa bounced as Dedede turned around. “Meta Knight, they just went to a place where children were murdered.”

 

“Yes, and they wasted all the potential making that boring jump-scare with a mouse,” Meta Knight replied.

 

“B-but the...the creepy little girl! With the jump rope!”

 

“Looks vaguely like this girl, Susanna, that I knew as a child. She went through a jump-roping phase,” Meta Knight replied. “Susanna had red hair, though.”

 

Dedede, looking somewhere between unsettled and defeated, returned his attention to the movie. Meta Knight wondered why Dedede kept trying to insist that this movie was scary and not the most unintentionally hilarious thing ever. Was Dedede worried that he wasn’t enjoying himself? 

 

And Dedede’s hand was on his knee. Meta Knight nearly made a joke about how Freddy bursting from the main character’s chest was probably the worst effect he’d ever seen, but when Meta Knight glanced at Dedede, Dedede had his other hand half-held over his eyes, like he didn’t want to look but couldn’t help it.

 

Was Dedede actually  _scared_? Meta Knight awkwardly averted his gaze. He didn’t want to  _ask_. Making jokes was probably also a bad idea.Tentatively, Meta Knight hummed and nestled against Dedede’s side. “We can watch something else,” Meta Knight murmured.

 

“No, ‘cause then, I’ll worry ‘bout how it ended,” Dedede said. “Like...”

 

Grady was promptly murdered, and Meta Knight kept any snarky comments he may have had to himself. “You realize, of course, if any dream-monster comes here, I’ll sense them,” Meta Knight said, “And I imagine if Galaxia is capable of destroying any and all darkness, she’s capable of slaying malignant dream-monsters as well.”

 

“Y-yeah, ‘course,” Dedede said.

 

The film continued with the main character’s girlfriend, Lisa, returning to the place where Freddy had murdered children, except this time there were mutant dog-things and an evil cat, which seemed a bit odd to Meta Knight, as cats were associated with the goddess Nova, who was probably the furthest thing ever from this movie. 

 

“Do you think Lisa saves him with the power of their love?” Meta Knight asked, hoping to alleviate some of Dedede’s fears.

 

Dedede seemed too concerned about the mutant-cat to answer, so Meta Knight took Dedede’s arm and placed it around his shoulders. “You hate this kinda stuff, Meta,” Dedede said.

 

“I don’t  _hate_ people being affectionate with me,” Meta Knight said. “It just...startles me when it’s unexpected.”

 

Dedede raised his hand and ran his fingers through Meta Knight’s long, blue hair, as if trying to verify what Meta Knight had said. Meta Knight leaned his head back, encouraging Dedede to continue; having his hair stroked was actually quite pleasant. 

 

It looked like there might be something in Meta Knight’s power of love theory, and Freddy was finally defeated, with the hero emerging from the odd cacoon-like structure that Freddy had been. Honestly, these movies were so formulaic. “So all you have to do,” Meta Knight said, “Is kiss any evil dream-monsters, and you win.”

 

Dedede actually cracked a smile. “Even if it’s your dad?”

 

Meta Knight wrinkled his nose. “No. No, if it’s my father, I expect you to just die.”

 

“Love you, too, sugar cakes,” Dedede drawled, as the next scene revealed that things seemed returned to normal.

 

That was, of course, until the jump-scare cliffhanger wherein Freddy’s clawed hand emerged from a woman’s chest. “Nova’s grace!” Dedede exclaimed. “I thought he was gone!”

 

Meta Knight smiled against Dedede’s chest. “So do you want to sleep in my room tonight?” Meta Knight asked. “I’ll ward away any monsters for you.”

 

Dedede squeezed Meta Knight’s shoulder. “You ain’t gonna hold it over my head if I do, are you?”

 

“No. I think, after all, I’m more respectful towards nightmares than most.”

 

Dedede stretched, jostling Meta Knight from his relatively comfortable position. “Yeah, I’ll join you, but ain’t all nightmares bad,” Dedede said, cupping Meta Knight’s cheek. “After all, one of them created a beautiful creature like you.”

 

Meta Knight scowled. "The most frightening part of this entire experience is how  _sappy_ it's made both of us."

 

"Yeah?" Dedede asked, arching an eyebrow.

 

"Yes. Definitely. It's so saccharine that I feel like I've consumed my weight in candy," Meta Knight replied, some odd mingling of shyness and defiance in his voice. 

 

Dedede put a finger over Meta Knight's lips. "It was nice. Don't ruin it," Dedede said. "I'm gonna brush my teeth, and yeah, I'll prolly join you. Kay, Meta?"

 

Meta Knight nodded. Dedede strode away, and Meta Knight watched, assuring that Dedede really was going to the bathroom. He was. Once the bathroom light flipped on, Meta Knight ducked back down on the sofa. He put a hand to his mouth, over where Dedede's finger had been. Butterflies fluttered in Meta Knight's stomach, and he wasn't entirely sure what they meant. That was the most terrifying thing of all.


	2. These Boys Are A-Mazeing (Siblings!Kirby and Meta Knight)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by toon-kirby: Not a ship, but Kirby and Meta Knight bond as siblings during a corn maze or pumpkin carving contest. I couldn't decide which to send. Alternatively the two have to ecxorsize dedede because he gets possessed a lot.
> 
> *Although Dedede getting possessed a lot made me chuckle, I know little about exorcism. So here are two nerds in a corn maze.
> 
> **It's vaguely Dreamland University again, which...I didn't intend for these all to be, but the corn maze loses a bit of punch if they can both just fly over it.

This whole mess was Dedede’s fault. Sort of. Since Meta Knight and Kirby had discovered that they were both children of Nightmare Nocturne, Dreamland's most infamous wizard, and, by extension, half-brothers, Meta Knight’s attempts to be a good brother had been awkward at best. All of Meta Knight’s Googling of “how to be a good brother when discovering a long-lost sibling” had brought forth a myriad of heartwarming reunion stories, just like the many movies Meta Knight had also watched in the hopes of gleaning some modicum of understanding of what constituted proper sibling behavior. In contrast, Meta Knight was sure that Kirby had struck out on the long-lost sibling lottery. Unfortunately, Meta Knight's searches of "how not to be the world's worst sibling" hadn't been particularly fruitful.

 

After days of Dedede's semi-playful taunting, Meta Knight had reluctantly admitted that he felt like a complete failure of a brother. Dedede had suggested a fun Autumnal Equinox activity, like pumpkin carving.

 

Pumpkin carving would’ve been fine if Meta Knight hadn’t been so competitive, and it turned out Kirby had a competitive streak, too. Unfortunately, only one of them was capable of Copying amazing pumpkin-cutting skills from those crappy knives included in pumpkin carving kits. Once they’d realized why Kirby was uncommonly good at pumpkin-carving, Kirby had been too embarrassed to continue, and no amount of careful carving would make Meta Knight’s pumpkin resemble anything close to Kirby’s masterpiece.

 

Then, Dedede had suggested that Meta Knight and Kirby do something  _together_ , where they weren’t competing against one another. Perhaps, a corn maze?

 

It’d seemed like a fine idea, but after thirty minutes of wandering, two minutes of silently fuming because Kirby lost the map they’d been given at the maze entrance, and five minutes of complaining under his breath because  _how dare those workers at a corn maze tell him that they’d escort him off the property if he tried lighting his way with fire again,_ Meta Knight was beginning to calculate the best way to extract revenge on his  _beloved_ lord for ever suggesting this.

 

It was dark, and Meta Knight, having assumed the maze would be lit, hadn’t brought a flashlight. Neither had Kirby. The few lights around the maze perimeter were ineffectual, barely bright enough to keep someone from running into a wall of corn. Instead, it was just Kirby and himself wandering around, using their cellphones for light, and silently cursing Nova.

 

“Hey, Meta Knight?” Kirby asked

 

“Mm?”

 

“You can see the Hunter, right? You can’t see that in the city.”

 

Meta Knight glanced upwards, even though he knew very well the constellation was there. “Right. Too many lights,” Meta Knight said.

 

“And...um, Landia!” Kirby said. 

 

“I’m well-aware of what constellations are in the sky.” Meta Knight paused, wondering if he'd sounded harsher than he'd intended. “Father taught me about them.”

 

“Oh.”

 

A predictable silence followed, broken only by their muffled footsteps and corn-stalks rustling in the wind. 

 

“Where did you learn?” Meta Knight asked. “With Father? You lived on the beach, right?”

 

“Yeah, but Dad didn’t teach me those. I, uh, learned them recently,” Kirby said, with an embarrassed sort of chuckle. “I wanted...well, I wanted to learn them for you. I know you like astronomy. I mean, you’re majoring in it and all, but I don’t get most of it. I can pick out the patterns, though.”

 

Meta Knight bit the inside of his cheek. For... _him_? “You didn’t have to do that,” Meta Knight said.

 

“I know, but learning...I mean, knowledge is the only thing I  _can’t_ Copy. Book knowledge. As far as I know, anyway. Maybe if I kept someone’s powers for a very long time,” Kirby replied. 

 

“Your powers are nothing to be ashamed of,” Meta Knight said. “I’ll still happily duel you if you ever gain an interest in swordplay.”

 

“I doubt that’ll happen. I don’t suppose you’re an expert in any other weaponry?” Kirby asked.

 

“I’m good with a whip.”

 

“ _Really_? That’s so cool! Where did you learn that?”

 

“Father. We used to hit targets together, competitively. You know.”

 

Another silence. Meta Knight mentally swore. He just  _had_ to keep bringing up Father, didn’t he? Father, who clearly hadn’t spent  _nearly_ as much time with Kirby as he had with Meta Knight.

 

“If we don’t make it out, at least we’ll have plenty to eat,” Meta Knight said.

 

“Maybe I can absorb the power from the corn and become Corn Kirby! Lord of the Corn!” Kirby chirped, gesturing widely. "Bow before me!"

 

Meta Knight bowed mockingly. “It is an honor to be in your presence, Your Lordship.”

 

Kirby laughed and nudged his shoulder against Meta Knight’s. Then, abruptly, Kirby moved away. From the corner of his eye, Meta Knight caught the nervous darting of Kirby’s eyes and the flash of his teeth biting his lip. Touch him or no?

 

Really, Dedede was the only person Meta Knight allowed such sudden, casual gestures of affection from. Even Bandanna Dee, who was Meta Knight's best friend after Dedede, rarely touched him, and when Bandanna Dee did, it was usually slow and very obvious, which allowed Meta Knight lots of time for mental preparation.

 

 _Affection wasn’t a weakness. Father was wrong_. Meta Knight knew that; it was the silent mantra he often repeated when he was feeling a little  _too_ close to Dedede or Bandanna Dee. Or, sometimes, even Dedede’s mother. 

 

Still, repeating it wasn’t necessarily enough to make him believe it.

 

Meta Knight took a deep breath and hesitantly nudged Kirby back. “Be careful, Your Lordship. If you laugh at me too much, I’ll topple your kingdom with my mach tornado.”

 

“But then, we’ll get thrown out!”

 

“Isn’t that the goal?” Meta Knight asked. "To get out?"

 

Kirby was quiet for a second. “I...I haven’t seen anyone else in this maze. Do you think we’re the only ones?”

 

“That’s a distinct possibility,” Meta Knight replied. “I could just...just temporarily level a section or two. Don’t tell Dedede, of course. He’d make fun of me for being defeated by a corn maze.”

 

Meta Knight and Kirby exchanged a long look. “ _Do it_ ,” Kirby said, grinning mischievously. 


	3. #SquadGhouls (DededexMeta Knight AND Elline/Claycia)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked for: haunted house prompt with meta knight and dedede or claycia and elleine? or both?
> 
> *So here's both because a.) I don't write enough femslash and b.) because I am all for mlm/wlw solidarity.
> 
> **It's another Dreamland University (kind of...I'd have to retcon Claycia into a student and, uh, the Nightmare arc might change, but...), but this might actually be how I do the Rainbow Curse part. So thank you, anon!
> 
> ***Also, it makes more sense than having canonical Claycia and Elline asking Meta Knight and Dedede, over Bandanna Dee and Kirby, to accompany them into a haunted house.

The house was a turn of the century abomination. The entryway sported columns appropriated from one of Nova’s ancient temples, glass windows from the post-Bikaian era, a Halcandran roof, and a vaguely pre-Bikaian, Floralian walkway. In short, the house was a horrific collage of styles that should never grace the same building. The building wasn’t condemned, but it wasn’t in spectacular shape either. An aura of decay hung over it like a cape, accentuated by the rusting iron gate and overgrown flower beds.

 

Claycia, a short, round woman with long, aqua hair, approached first. Her camera clicked as she snapped a photo. She paused, observed it, and turned to the rest of the group with a satisfied nod. “Super cool,” she said. “Oh, hey, Elline, did you bring the letter with you? In case someone comes by and asks what we’re doing?”

 

Elline brushed her rainbow-hued bangs out of her face before nodding. The wind was working horrors upon her hair, which was long enough to be mussed, but not long enough to pull out of the way. “No, but I can pull it up on my phone,” Elline said.

 

“Why would anyone stop?” Dedede asked. “There ain’t nothing suspicious about four college kids storming an abandoned house at night during the middle of October!”

 

Claycia smiled. “Thanks again for joining us. I realize it sounds silly, but there are so many creeps, you know? It helps to have a couple of guys around."

 

"No problem," Dedede said. "We would've brought you two more, but Kirbs and Bandanna Dee already had plans doing some sorta volunteer gala thing for their freshman seminar class."

 

"I know, but I really hated to ask. I know you’ve had a rough month between Yin-Yarn and Dark Mind...” Claycia trailed off, notably leaving out the more recent mess with Nightmare.

 

“It’s all right,” Meta Knight said. “My stitches are still giving me a little trouble, but beyond that I’m fine.”

 

Meta Knight knew very well that Claycia  _wasn’t_ referring to his physical injuries, but he wasn’t going to admit to any emotional trauma outside of whispered conversations with Dedede and  _maybe_ Kirby. And Kirby was only privy to such thoughts because they shared a father. Meta Knight certainly wasn’t going to own up to it in front of Claycia and Elline, who he only knew through Dedede.

 

Claycia’s face fell. “Uh...good,” she said.

 

Meta Knight, sensing he’d ruined the moment, awkwardly reached over his shoulder and fingered the gem on Galaxia’s crossguard. “It doesn’t really matter,” Meta Knight added, hoping to make it better. “I mean, it’s not like I didn’t expect him to…”

 

“Maybe we oughta just go in,” Dedede hedged in awkwardly.

 

Leaves crunched beneath their feet as they approached the house. The porch creaked beneath their weight. Claycia pulled the keys out of her pocket and opened the door. They stepped inside. The entryway was a large area covered in hardwood floors with a gilded staircase on each side; it must’ve been really spectacular two-hundred years ago. Across the ceiling, there stretched a massive, faded painting of the goddess Nova surrounded by what appeared to be an accurate, if fanciful star chart.

 

Dedede whistled. “Wow. Think it’s haunted?”

 

“You can say that again,” Claycia said, snapping another picture. “Maybe we should’ve brought some sage to purify the area.”

 

“Say, can you sense ghosts like you do magic?” Dedede asked.

 

Meta Knight shook his head. “No. Otherwise, I’d imagine we’d know whether or not ghosts actually exist.”

 

“Ouch! Sorry, bad question.”

 

“I didn’t know about this fresco,” Elline said. “The one I wanted to see is in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”

 

“Hey, Meta, wanna make-out?” Dedede joked. “Ain’t that what college kids always do first-thing in haunted houses?”

 

“Right. Nothing puts me in the mood more than mold and cobwebs,” Meta Knight answered. “Very provocative.”

 

“Aren’t the couples making out usually the first to get brutally murdered?” Elline asked. “Hey, Claycia, do you mind getting a picture from the top of the stairs? I might be able to work this into my project, too?”

 

“Sure, princess,” Claycia said, placing a quick peck on her girlfriend’s cheek.

 

“You’ve just signed my death warrant!” Elline gasped, putting a hand to her chest in mock dismay. “How could you?”

 

“I think you’re safe,” Meta Knight replied. “Everyone knows it’s the token Floralian or Halcandran character that dies first.”

 

“Yeah, you’ll be the first to go,” Dedede said, “You with the super-impressive magical powers and the sacred sword that cuts through darkness.”

 

Meta Knight called the wind to him and mischievously used it to pull at Dedede’s coat. “Or maybe _I_ ’m the monster of the film,” Meta Knight replied darkly. “Mm?”

 

“Monster or no, I’d still bang you,” Dedede said.

 

Meta Knight’s jaw dropped. He recovered quickly, but even then, he still had no idea what to say to _that_. Dedede patted Meta Knight’s cheek as he sauntered up the stairs behind Claycia and Elline. “I’m not allowed…” Meta Knight trailed off.

 

Actually, he absolutely _was_ allowed, and the abrupt realization caused his face to warm. He was glad he didn’t have Kirby’s pale complexion; otherwise, his face would’ve lit up like a midwinter sunset. It was much easier to hide his embarrassment this way.

 

Meta Knight trailed behind the others, partly because he thought they might still, somehow, notice his embarrassment and partly because he was struck by the sudden irrational— _mostly_ irrational?—fear that Dedede might do something horrifically embarrassing. Like grabbing his buttocks.

 

Or kissing him like Claycia had Elline.

 

Or biting his neck.

 

Or even _worse_. Biting his neck and bursting the superficial blood-vessels there and leaving a mark.

 

 _Maybe_ Meta Knight shouldn’t have brought this on himself. Maybe he should’ve just ignored all the butterflies in his stomach and the euphoric realization that his father could no longer tell him what to do. Meta Knight was still getting accustomed to the fact that his father _couldn’t_ leap from the shadows and chastise him for even _considering_ letting Dedede kiss him.

 

Meta Knight quite enjoyed the kissing part, even if bouts of embarrassment and unease usually followed it.

 

Claycia snapped a photo from the top of the staircase. “So which bedroom is it?” she asked.

 

“I think it’s this way,” Elline said, leading the way.

 

They followed, Claycia looping an arm around her much smaller girlfriend’s shoulders. Elline let Claycia pull her closer. “Are you going to protect me from ghosts?” Elline asked.

 

“Of course, El. Ghosts, serial killers, and whatever else is wandering around. I’ll slay them with my bare hands.”

 

Dedede glanced back at Meta Knight, who pretended to be interested in the window they’d just passed.

 

Fortunately, Dedede didn’t press the issue. Not that it made Meta Knight feel much better. Why did he have to be such a failure as a romantic partner? Why couldn’t he settle so easily against Dedede’s side like Elline did against Claycia? Dedede deserved much better. He deserved Fae, really.

 

But when Meta Knight, laying on the sofa and recovering from his most recent stab wound, had suggested that Fae and Dedede rekindle their relationship, she’d only shook her head.

 

 _“But there wasn’t anyone else,”_ Meta Knight had insisted. “ _I’d have known_.”

 

Her eyes had been kind and patient. “ _Yes, I suppose you would know_ ,” she said. “ _After all, the only other person he saw as much as me was you._ ”

 

Meta Knight hadn’t been sure he understood her, then. He knew now. But no matter how hard he tried, he’d never match up to Fae’s easy affection and lovingness.

 

“Is that blood?” Elline asked.

 

Meta Knight tensed and hurried to join them, nudging past Dedede. They’d arrived at the bedroom, which was painted a horrific salmon color. There were, indeed, a series of rust-colored droplets on the cherrywood floor. Elline’s flashlight focused upon them.

 

“That’s creepy,” Dedede said.

 

The floor creaked forebodingly when they entered, too. This room smelled like magic, musty and aged. It was difficult to determine much about it, although Meta Knight decided it was probably either light or darkness, possibly fire. Elline’s fresco was on the opposite wall. It pictured Nova with her long, blonde hair and dress streaming behind her, blown by a nonexistent wind. Glittering stars rushed from her hands. Meta Knight approached it and touched his fingers to the wall, trying to get a better feel for it. The shadows on the floor moved, and Meta Knight flinched, only to realize it was an overgrown tree branch scraping against the window. “Well, here’s the fresco at any rate,” Claycia said, adjusting her camera.

 

“Okay, what time is it?” Elline asked.

 

Dedede pulled out his phone. “Almost eleven forty-five.”

 

“So about fifteen minutes,” Elline said. “Then, we’ll see if it really does move under the moonlight.”

 

It felt like magic, so it likely would. Meta Knight kept such thoughts to himself, however. It’d be more fun for everyone else if they were pleasantly surprised.

 

“Assuming we can see it with the tree branches in the way,” Dedede said. “Hey, Meta, how ‘bout I force the window open, and you cut it back a bit? Ain’t like the owner will notice.”

 

“You want me to cut _tree branches_ with Sacred Galaxia,” Meta Knight deadpanned.

 

Dedede forced open the window with an ear-piercing screech. “Yeah. Get over here, pretty-boy. Since I pay you and all, the least you can…” Dedede trailed off.

 

Because Meta Knight didn’t work for him anymore.

 

Still, Meta Knight unsheathed Galaxia and climbed into the window sill. It likely would’ve taken several strokes of any other sword to cut the tree back sufficiently, but Galaxia being Galaxia, managed it in one. The falling branches produced a symphony of crackling as they fell.

 

“That was kinda hot,” Dedede said, offering his hand.

 

Meta Knight hopped down from the window sill without it. “Anything I do is ‘kinda hot’ because I’m so gorgeous,” he said.

 

Was that flirty? He’d meant it to be flirty.

 

Dedede grinned.

 

Claycia had her camera ready; its light illuminated the wall. Elline stood behind her, resting her chin against Claycia’s shoulder. Meta Knight moved away from the window sill and stood in a corner; Dedede kept giving him mischievous looks, and that spelled bad news.

 

The tolling of the palace bells indicated midnight had struck, and moonlight streamed through the room, illuminating the wall. Nova did, indeed, move. Her white dress rippled, and the stars sparkled and moved. Claycia’s camera clicked rapidly, probably taking several photos. Elline jumped and clapped her hands together excitedly.

 

Abruptly, everything went dark. Claycia yelled. Something thudded.

 

Meta Knight called Galaxia’s fire to his hand, illuminating the room. Dedede had pulled out his cell phone, but put it away when he saw that Meta Knight’s fire did a much better job of lighting the room. Claycia sat on the ground. “Ow. Sorry, guys. I thought I felt, like, a snake or something.”

 

Elline crouched beside her. “What happened, though?”

 

“I don’t know,” Claycia said. “The camera just…went off. It’s coming back on now. Hopefully, I didn’t drop it.”

 

Meta Knight glanced out the window. The clouds had moved over the moon at the same time, which seemed too much like a mere coincidence.

 

“But hey, I got your footage,” Claycia said. “It’s all here.”

 

Elline sighed. “Thank you. I’m so sorry about this.”

 

“No worries! It’s my own fault for tripping over…air, eh?”

 

Elline helped Claycia to her feet. “I may have twisted my ankle, though,” Claycia said. “Oh, ow.”

 

Claycia draped one arm over Elline and one arm over Dedede, who slowly aided her downstairs and outside. Meta Knight paused behind them to lock the door. “Galaxia, that was weird,” he muttered.

 

 _Yes,_ she said, _But perhaps, we ought to investigate further in the daylight, potentially with back-up._

Meta Knight nodded, and after sheathing Galaxia, he jogged to catch up. He managed to beat the others to the Halberd and opened the back, passenger door. Dedede and Elline eased Claycia in. Aside from her ankle, Claycia seemed fine, but still, there was something uncomfortable about the situation that Meta Knight just couldn't shake.


	4. Boo-tiful Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon requested: more like group but kirby, bandanna dee, king dedede, and meta knight spending their halloween night ghost hunting in a graveyard ?
> 
> *I hope everyone likes Canvas Curse?
> 
> **Someday, Meta Knight will get a normal, happy childhood...but not today.
> 
> ***No actual ghosts because I didn't want it to sound too much like chapter three.
> 
> \----  
> caballerito: "little knight"

The wind howled, bringing with it sea-salt and chill. The ocean waves crashing upon the shore reminded Meta Knight of his childhood. He remembered hearing the waves through the walls of the tiny cottage where he was trapped with a witch, who worked him hard, fed him little, and was always either suffocatingly affectionate or unforgivably cruel. She was a fire witch, and that was why she was exiled to an island through a bit of trickery that she’d never fully explained. She couldn’t cross water, and sometimes, when Meta Knight was being too defiant, she’d taunt him by pointing out the ocean was _right there_. Of course, that did him little good when he spent most of his time in a cage or chained to a floor.

 

There were tombstones by this beach and a darkness that didn’t belong on Pop Star or in Dreamland. Meta Knight bounced back to where the others waited and silently cursed Drawcia for stealing his wings and depriving him of the swordsmanship it'd taken him so long to master. He could still call upon Galaxia’s power, but even that wasn’t especially consoling. It wasn't the same as holding her in his paws and feeling her blade slash through any resistance.

 

Upon seeing him, Dedede bounded a bit clumsily towards him; Drawcia’s transformation had made him slower and heavier. “Well?” he asked.

 

“She isn’t there,” Meta Knight replied. “It looks like a safe enough place to sleep. Comparatively speaking, Sire.”

 

“Do you think there are ghosts?” Kirby asked.

 

“I didn’t see any,” Meta Knight replied, “But I suppose there might be.”

 

Ghosts in his memory weren’t worth mentioning.

 

“Maybe there are friendly ghosts,” Kirby said, sounding remarkably excited about the prospect.

 

“If the witch conjured ‘em up, I kinda doubt it,” Dedede said, “But whatever. You and Dee go on ahead; Meta an’ me’ll come behind you. Make sure we ain’t ambushed or nothing.”

 

“Ooh! I’ll race you, Dee!” Kirby exclaimed, bouncing into the air. “Ready, go!”

 

Bandanna Dee, having missed the call by a few seconds, squeaked and raced after Kirby. Dedede followed at a much slower pace, so slow—in fact—that it was difficult for Meta Knight to move alongside him without it being awkward. “Kid’s taking to this dark and creepy stuff real well,” Dedede said.

 

“He is.”

 

“And you?”

 

Meta Knight frowned. Normally, he’d have shrugged and left the question with that, but being transformed into a ball had a way of forcing him into relying far more heavily on verbal answers. “Why would you ask?”

 

“I thought you might be kinda unsettled.”

 

“I am a creature of darkness, as is this world and this witch.”

 

“And if you craved darkness, you wouldn’t be living in Dreamland, would you?”

 

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”

 

“Suit yourself, _caballerito_.”

 

Meta Knight scowled. “There is nothing desirable about darkness.”

 

“There’s you.”

 

“And I’m as abominable as any other dark wizard or maleficent knight.”

 

“Uh-huh. Well, I like you a’right.”

 

“That’s because I’ve enticed you into liking me.”

 

“I don’t get why you gotta try and hide that you’re a decent person,” Dedede replied.

 

“Because I’m _not_ —”

 

Kirby bounced up and down, seemingly entirely unfazed by having lost his limbs. Behind him, Bandanna Dee was bouncing up and down, enjoying his victory. Drawcia's transformation had made the waddle dee swifter than the rest of them, and even Kirby's headstart hadn't been enough for him to win. “Friendly ghosts,” Kirby said. “I’ll look around!”

 

“Kirby—” Meta Knight cut off, as Kirby bounded away. “We’d best follow him and make sure he doesn’t encounter any trouble.”

 

“Well-said, evil wizard,” Dedede said, purposefully bouncing into Meta Knight.

 

The king of Dreamland did his best to keep up with Kirby’s much quicker pace, Bandanna Dee joining them and awkwardly trying to match his king's pace. “Friendly ghosts,” Meta Knight muttered. “Who’s ever heard of such a thing?”

 

They rolled between tombstones. The wind had picked up, and Meta Knight longed to be in the sky, riding the soft, sea-breezes. Being grounded was humiliating and stirred too many memories, none of them very good. He missed his cape, too. Meta Knight was accustomed to wrapping it around himself, partly because it made him feel mysterious and imposing and partly because he disliked the cold. While the wind was pleasant for the first little while, it steadily grew colder. It seemed to sink into his bones and take refuge there. Meta Knight covertly moved closer to Dedede, who normally would’ve been covered in warm, thick plumage. Dedede had the grace not to tease him about it.

 

“Hello, friendly ghosts!” Kirby called out. “Hi, I’m Kirby!”

 

“We’ve been at this for hours,” Dedede whispered. “You think we oughta tell kiddo to just hang it up. I don’t think there’s no ghosts here.”

 

“Kirby, maybe there aren’t any ghosts,” Meta Knight said. “Just because we’re in a cemetery…”

 

"Maybe the ghosts are afraid of the paint-witch, too," Bandanna Dee said, "And they're hiding?"

 

Kirby sighed. “I really wanted to meet some friendly ghosts,” he pouted.

 

“I’m afraid you’ll need to settle for us,” Meta Knight said. “Why don’t we set up camp?”

 

They set up camp amongst the tombstones, in a place mostly sheltered from the wind. Dedede took his customary first watch, and Meta Knight pressed between a tombstone and Dedede’s side. Kirby settled against Meta Knight, and Bandanna Dee by Kirby. “Mm. Meta Knight,” Kirby said, muffling a yawn. “I didn’t see any ghosts.”

 

“Perhaps, that’s a good thing,” Meta Knight replied.

 

“You’re not fun,” Kirby said. “What if they were—like—ghostly damsels? Damsels love knights!”

 

Bandanna Dee was already mostly asleep, only managing to mutter something that sounded vaguely like "ghostly princess."

 

“We’ll check in the morning,” Meta Knight promised.

 

“M’kay, Meta,” Kirby mumbled.

 

The puffball fell asleep quickly, tiny snores erupting from his mouth. “You ain’t allowed to go leaving me for a ghostly damsel,” Dedede whispered. “I need my evil sorcerer.”

 

“Your evil sorcerer, huh?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“When we return home, I expect you to put a sheet over yourself and pretend to be a friendly ghost,” Meta Knight whispered back, “Or I’ll put a curse upon you.”

 

Dedede grinned mischievously. "Oh, with  _pleasure_ , Mety Knighty. I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
